Damsel

Buffy, Blade and a whole bunch of Belmonts. These are just a few of the most popular names in vampire hunting. I hope to one day add Damsel to the list, because her debut release from Screwtape Studios is an action-packed romp that sets the stealthy slayer up as an exciting new hero to watch. From the tight gameplay to the comic book story to the intense firefights, Damsel bursts on the scene with a surprisingly strong start that fans of action/platformers are going to adore.

Damsel is split into three different comic book stories, with the first two available now and the third on the way. The premiere issue establishes Damsel (or D, as her friends call her) as a nimble action hero with a powerful shotgun and a wooden stake for close quarters combat. Things quickly spiral out of control after D uncovers damning information that the powerful vampire corporation Red Mist is adding an illegal ingredient to their popular drinks. This sends the vampire slayer on an intense adventure to infiltrate, investigate and ultimately disrupt production. But don't expect to do this without killing hundreds of those undead blood-suckers along the way.

The good news is that Damsel is more than ready to take out a nest of vampires. She comes equipped with a powerful gun and helpful dash move. She can double jump, wall jump and even bounce through the air by shooting at the ground below. She's ready and prepared for anything the vampires throw at her, and that's what makes playing as her so much fun. D can toy with her pray, as she almost always has the upper hand in every fight.

Part of the reason for this is because of the way the stages are constructed. Instead of just running from left to right like a lot of action games, Damsel tosses us into a closed-off arena filled with different platforms and paths. Each stage will give you a different mission, such as destroying a bunch of surveillance cameras, rescuing hostages, killing enemies or uploading important files at different computer terminals. You can tackle most of these assignments any way you wish, giving us a real sense of freedom that helps keep the game from growing repetitive.

And it's not just the freedom the game gives us, but also the speedy pacing that kept me glued to the screen. The levels are all around two or three minutes long, with a few enforcing a strict time limit. Between the bite-sized nature and the different types of objectives, I kept wanting to play one more stage. And then there are the stylish comic book pages between levels that kept me engaged in the overall narrative. Once this game sticks its teeth in you, it won't let go. But in a good way.

My only real complaint is the lack of variety in the stage designs. Because of the way the story is structured, there are a few levels you'll end up revisiting multiple times before the game ends. And even when the arenas are different, a lot of them kind of look the same. They all use the same lighting and background assets, which is a little disappointing. Again, it makes sense in the context of the story, but I spent a lot of the game wishing for more diverse backgrounds.

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The same goes for the different missions. Don't get me wrong, I like that we're not always doing the same thing in every level, but it won't take long to realize that there are only a handful of mission types that are rotating one after another. Most of them have very little to do with the story beat we just caught from the comic book page, which has a way of disconnecting the action from the narrative. It would have been nice to see more story-specific assignments.

On a more positive note, Damsel is loaded with content. Even without the third episode available at launch, there are all kinds of different modes to keep you occupied. Beyond the traditional story campaign, we also get a leaderboard-focused Damsel Dash mode, as well as a more structured arcade mode. And if you want a more relaxing experience, there's Chillout mode, which is kind of the opposite of the harder Hothead mode. There's a lot to do here, and that's even before we get the explosive final chapter.

Don't let her small frame and blue hair fool you, Damsel is one of the year's best new characters. This debut release from Screwtape Studios is a joy to play and filled with great ideas. Best of all, there's a vampire slaying story here that's surprisingly interesting. My only knock is that levels repeat themselves and the final chapter has yet to come out. Beyond that, Damsel is an incredibly satisfying 2D platformer with great gameplay, exciting missions and a killer new action hero.